A Yerevan court today refused to release for Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan who was arrested two years ago in a criminal probe regarding the supply of defective armaments to the country’s military.

Tonoyan was appointed defense minister in May 2018 and dismissed on November 20, 2020, following the Artsakh war.

Armenia’s National Security Service charged Tonoyan, two generals and an arms dealer for defrauding the government of 2.3 billion drams (US$5.9m).

This latest petition to release Tonoyan was filed by his lawyer Avetik Karapetyan who says his client is being used as a scapegoat for Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 Karabakh war.